February 18, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
391 
Louse again. A light soil, consisting of limo rubbish 
and broken bricks mixed with loam and leaf-soil, is a 
suitable compost, and the best time to pot them is 
about the beginning of March. Potting does not 
require to be done annually, as top-dressing will suffice 
for two or even three years.— G. II. 
Narcissus Horsfleldii. 
AVhat a beautiful variety this is ! and it is one of the 
first to flower, being only a day or two later than the 
common Daffodil. The powerful odour of the Hyacinth 
is objectionable here ; therefore, Narcissi are more to 
taste, and receive similar treatment. The one under 
notice, with its long creamy white perianth and rich 
golden trumpets, is extremely beautiful, and as a 
button-hole may be mistaken for an Orchid, so rich in 
substance is it. This class of bulb has recently become 
extremely popular, which cannot be wondered at, con¬ 
sidering it is easy of culture, well adapted for forcing, 
and keeps the conservatory gay in the early dawn of 
the year.— 11. L. 
Glazed Pots for Plant Growing. 
Being neither an Hibernian nor a Home Ruler, perhaps 
I ought not to endeavour to speak twice or have the 
last word, but certainly from the way in which “M., 
North, Britain,” first wrote of the above, I surmised 
as he had been so successful with glazed pots for 
certain plants, he wished his readers to imitate his 
example, especially when he was good enough to 
designate those who previously, I presume, had been 
at variance with glazed pots as cavillers. I do not say 
it is impossible to grow plants in them ; our worthy 
Editor says differently in his foot-note on this subject, 
and adds “ that it may depend on their manufacture 
whether they are suitable for plant growing.” But for 
my own part I fail to perceive any direct advantage 
from cultivating plants in them, other than to test 
their merits, as they are certainly more expensive than 
the ordinary pot. And as to their being such a 
necessity for conservatory work, I may say that some 
years ago I was employed in the plant department of a 
private establishment, where we had a conservatory of 
considerable dimensions. The stage that ran round the 
outside required over a thousand plants to furnish it, 
which we overhauled once a week, so that none of the 
plants remained long enough for the pots to become 
green,and to require scrubbing. The edge of the stage was 
furnished with ornamental wire-work, behind which 
wire troughs were placed planted with Selaginella 
Krausiana and Isolepis gracilis, which, at a little 
distance, effectually obstructed the view of the unsightly 
pot.— Georye. Potts, Junr. 
A Miniature Mountain at Oakwood. 
One of the latest novelties at Oakwood is a miniature 
mountain, modelled partly after a very old friend in 
Perthshire, Schiehallion. When the question of planting 
it came up, I was fortunate enough to find Mr. Anthony 
Waterer disengaged, so we inspected and thoroughly 
discussed his dwarf Conifers in their beds. I had no 
conception that he had such a number of beautiful 
forms. These, together with some species of Box, 
Euonymus, Osmanthus, &c., were duly planted, and 
towards the base of the east side, a collection of hardy 
Heaths from Mr. Smith, of Darley Dale, and in the 
same line, on the north side, a number of seedling 
Menziesias, taken from our old Heath bed, where they 
sow themselves very freely. The west side of the 
mountain is planted with seedling Conifers grown in 
the wood from seed kindly sent me from the Himalayas. 
The north side slopes down to a bog, of which, so far, 
the only inhabitants are offsets from a.laige plant of 
Bog Myrtle, brought by me from Perthshire many 
years ago. So far, all the plants look extremely well.—- 
George F. Wilson, Heatherbank, Weybridge Heath, 
Feb. 1 1th. 
Early Peaa. 
So various are the methods employed nowadays to 
produce vegetables of every kind at the earliest possible 
date, that it would be a difficult matter to suggest any 
that have not already been tried. It is not, therefore, 
to describe any new method that the following notes 
are penned, but merely to point out one or two systems 
which we have seen adopted with success in the pro¬ 
duction of early Peas, and which we hope may prove 
helpful to some young beginner. Where sufficient 
accommodation is at disposal to grow the Peas under 
glass until ready for use, they can be had much earlier 
than from the open, even although they may have been 
grown on under glass during the earlier stages. The 
front of a cool Peach house will be found a very suitable 
place for sowing a row of dwarf Peas. We have found 
Chelsea Gem a most useful variety as it grows only 
about a foot in height, is very productive, of excellent 
quality, and comes early to maturity. A line of about 
forty feet in length of this sort will give three or four 
nice dishes of Peas three months after the seeds have 
been sown. As every one may not have accommodation 
to grow them entirely under glass, we will mention 
another plan which has some good points to recommend 
it. Boards long enough to stretch across the border 
where the Peas are to be grown, and 6 ins or 8 ins. deep, 
should be procured and fitted into notched blocks 
like this M. The trough thus made should be filled 
with a moderately rich compost in which the Peas 
should be sown, and they may then be put in a vinery 
or Peach house until they germinate, being gradually 
hardened off till the weather is suitable for placing 
them in their quarters outside. A notch can then 
be taken out, into which the boards may be put, 
and then gently removed, leaving the row complete. 
Stake at once as this will afford shelter from cold winds. 
With ordinary care a good crop of early Peas can be 
produced by this plan.— W. L. Kinmouth. 
Iris stylosa alba. 
The ordinary blue form of this Iris is not only 
interesting but beautiful, and the white variety is 
infinitely more so. The plant itself is perfectly hardy 
in this country—at least, in the southern counties— 
and will even flower freely in a favourable winter ; but 
in our rainy and changeable climate a little protection, 
such as a hand-light, is of great advantage to prevent 
the delicacy of the blooms from being destroyed. The 
flowers are borne singly on scapes that are 6 ins. to 
10 ins. high, and much shorter than the leaves, thereby 
receiving some natural protection. They are also of 
large size, pleasantly fragrant, and pure white, with 
the exception of a golden yellow band along the centre 
of each segment. Five or six pieces, recently imported 
from Algiers, and planted in a group, are now estab¬ 
lishing themselves and growing healthily. Several of 
the pieces are sending up flowers, and that they should 
be already thriving so freely is all the more striking 
from the fact that they came from Algiers from time to 
time in letters, and so dried up as to appear almost 
lifeless. If the rootstock were a bulb, we could readily 
understand their being in that condition ; but the 
rhizomes even are not very large, and bear an abundance 
of evergreen leaves. 
Rhododendron Veitchianum. 
A truss bearing four flowers of this fine Moulmein 
species of Rhododendron has been sent us by Mr. George 
Russell, the Redlands, Glasgow. As a garden plant 
it may be described as an improved form, of which 
there are several in cultivation, and was raised from a 
plant of the typical form fertilised with its own pollen. 
The expanded corolla measures 4 ins. in diameter, and 
of the purest snow-white, with the exception of a pale 
yellow tint at the base of the upper segments. On the 
other hand the anthers and stigmas are deep chocolate- 
brown contrasting vividly with the purity of the 
corolla. Furthermore, the appearance is greatly 
improved by the finely-crisped margins. The foliage 
subtending the flowers is leathery, well developed and 
good. 
White Pandanus. 
In your last issue, February 11th, p. 378, I notice some 
remarks on the above. Just recently my attention 
has been taken by two young plants of P. Veitchii, 
which I have several times used as table plants at 
home and in competition. Both of these plants when 
used for the latter purpose were in fine condition as 
regards variegation ; since then—last summer and the 
one previous, when they were used generally—-they had 
almost grown quite green, that when looking at the 
plants it would appear as if they were gradually passing 
from having almost white foliage to green, the latter 
being at first of a half white and half green shade of 
colour over the entire leaf. This appeared to me to be 
so much the case, that I thought the plants would be 
of little use as beautiful specimens. Now, however, 
they are throwing up from the centres beautiful 
foliage as near white as any cultivator would wish to 
see ; so that when the lower leaves are stripped off they 
will look very pretty. Pandanus Veitchii, and the 
older species, P. javanica variegata, are still beautiful 
plants when well done, and I dare say the only way 
to do that is to withhold water from the plants, as too 
much moisture is the cause, probably, of making them 
grow green.— R. M. 
Kew Gardens and their Maintenance. 
With reference to your remarks on this subject (p. 376), 
and promise of further light, allow me to recommend 
you to wait until the new Civil Service Estimates are 
printed, when you will be able to give authoritative 
figures and comparisons. Of course, the whole subject 
being a public one, it is open to full and fair discussion 
on both sides. For my part, I have long entertained 
the opinion that the Kew concern occupies, with 
relation to similar or kindred establishments in this 
country, much the same position as the young cuckoo 
does in the hedge-sparrow’s nest; but if we go into 
other branches of the service, the grant for its main¬ 
tenance, compared with that for the postal system, for 
example, is simply preposterous. 1 have for my own 
use gathered much information about the boasted 
usefulness of Kew in propagating and distributing in 
our dependencies new and useful plants for commercial 
products, and I come to the conclusion that there is 
not much in it, and that the work which is so ex¬ 
pensively done there could be better carried out at a 
nominal cost at one of tie tropical botanic gardens. 
When the time arrives I shall be glad to help you, as 
I am sure you will not allow the matter to become a 
personal one ; and I am equally certain that the Kew 
authorities will not wish to be exempt from criticism 
any more than is the Prime Minister.— C. 
--—- 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
The Hardy Plant House. —Apropos of your remarks 
at p. 378, I should like, with your permission, to say 
that, as one very much interested in hardy flowers, I 
lost no time in visiting the new hardy plant house at 
Kew. Undoubtedly of late a desire has grown up 
amongst many who have neither time nor the where¬ 
withal to prosecute an expensive hobby in matters 
horticultural, and yet would like, if they were shown 
the way, to become the possessors—and cultivators, 
too—of some of the choicer and more meritorious forms 
of Alpine vegetation. Such a house as this one just 
opened at Kew, with the dissemination of knowledge 
through the press, will go far to create a love for these 
beautiful hardy herbaceous perennials. Anyone who 
has a bit of ground attached to his dwelling may thus 
indulge his tastes ; but he should have a cold frame, 
or, better still, a cold glass structure big enough to 
enable him to get in and out, and to exhibit his plants 
to greater perfection when they are in bloom. 
These gems of creation, apart from their intrinsic 
merits, are particularly interesting, flowering, as many 
of them do at such an early season of the year, with¬ 
out the aid of artificial heat. These plants are for the 
most part of easy culture ; thus the merest tyro may, 
if he takes a delight in such things, be assured that 
success will inevitably follow his efforts. As an 
amateur cultivator in a small way, and not an un¬ 
successful one either, I am bound to admit that it is 
absolutely necessary to begin well, in the matter of 
clean pots and sweet soils ; the former to be efficiently 
crocked, and the latter to be well incorporated with 
rotten manure, silver-sand, peat, or any other substance 
requisite to the full development of the particular plant 
under treatment. Given these conditions—and who 
would not imitate nature as near as possible ?—and a 
good start, the rest will be a labour of love. The more 
we learn about our flowers the more we enjoy them ; 
and these hardy children of nature are so diversified in 
form, foliage and flower, that, as compared with their 
more delicate congeners of the stove and greenhouse, 
they afford far more satisfaction and give far less 
trouble. 
If I have not already transgressed the limits of a 
note, I will now proceed to give a few brief remarks 
anent the most prominent and beautiful of these said 
hardy flowers in bloom at the present time—February 
11th—-at Kew. The Hellebores, or as they are more 
commonly termed Christmas Roses, must necessarily 
occupy the premier place by virtue of their size, num¬ 
ber, variety, and beauty. Two very notable specimens 
are named, respectively H. orientalis and H. o. roseus, 
the former a free-flowering white species, tinged with 
rose, and the latter a fine robust variety with rosy 
purple flowers of great merit. H. niger major is 
unquestionably a great improvement on the type, 
namely, the common Christmas Rose. With the pro¬ 
tection of a bit of glass, such as this house affords, the 
flowers develop more freely, and are consequently of a 
purer tint. These individually measure about 4 ins. 
in diameter, and are pure white. The leaves are large, 
palmate or pedate, and leathery in texture, the dark 
